Car fire forces evacuation of Bremerton hotel

Spectators and guest of the Fairfield Inn and Suites in downtown Bremerton watch as firefighters work around the building Friday night.

Bremerton firefighters were called to Fairfield Inn & Suites in downtown Bremerton late Friday night for a car fire in the basement.

BREMERTON - Guests were evacuated from the Fairfield Inn & Suites downtown shortly before 11 p.m. Friday after a car fire was reported in the basement.

Bremerton police officer Duke Roessel arrived first at the hotel and reported that the basement was filled with smoke, said Sgt. Billy Renfro. A flaming pool was seen streaming down the basement floor, he said.

Moni Ajiboye, who was staying at the hotel with a church group, was trying to park her car when she saw a fire beneath a vehicle and what looked like flames dripping from the bottom, she said. She backed out of the parking lot, called her husband and reported it to the hotel.

Close to 100 people were evacuated from the hotel shortly before 11 p.m.

The hotel's night auditor Dana Ludwig had just gotten to work when the alarms started going off. As firefighters doused the basement, she, other hotel staff and volunteers walked around the crowd of evacuated guests on Washington Avenue to match room names with guests and ensure that no one was left inside.

Ludwig said she could smell the fire's smoke from the lobby.

Washington Avenue and Burwell Street were temporarily blocked.

Kitsap Transit sent buses so guests had someplace warm and sheltered to go while the fire was put out and the building was ventilated. Some were welcomed inside the lobbies of nearby condo buildings and the Hampton Inn.

Firefighters cleared the area and a tow truck was called in at about 12:45 a.m. and people were allowed to go back to the hotel shortly after 1 a.m.

The extent of damage to the hotel and the cause of the fire will be updated when that information becomes available.